Method and system for generating a nuclear reactor core loading distribution

Abstract

The generation of a nuclear core loading distribution includes receiving a reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a reference nuclear reactor core, generating an initial fuel loading distribution for a simulated beginning-of-cycle (BOC) nuclear reactor core, selecting an initial set of positions for a set of regions within the simulated BOC core, generating an initial set of fuel design parameter values utilizing a design variable of each of the regions, calculating a reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated BOC core utilizing the generated initial set of fuel design parameter values associated with the set of regions located at the initial set of positions of the simulated BOC core and generating a loading distribution by performing a perturbation process on the set of regions of the simulated BOC core to determine a subsequent set of positions for the set of regions within the simulated BOC core.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method, comprising:
 determining an initial loading distribution of a core of a nuclear reactor utilizing a beginning-of-cycle (BOC) simulation process to generate a simulated BOC nuclear reactor core; 
 arranging at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to a set of simulated positions of a set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core; 
 operating the core of the nuclear reactor for a selected time interval; 
 generating a measured reactor core parameter distribution utilizing at least one measurement of at least one reactor core parameter at one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor; 
 comparing the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to at least one reactor core parameter distribution of a simulated operated nuclear reactor core; 
 determining that an operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is an out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core; and 
 in response to determining that the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is in the out-of-compliance state, rearranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor, 
 wherein the arranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core comprises one or more of rearranging the at least one fuel assembly in the core, inserting the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or removing the at least one fuel assembly from the core, and 
 wherein the rearranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor comprises one or more of rearranging the at least one fuel assembly in the core, inserting the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or removing the at least one fuel assembly from the core. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core includes at least one of a simulated BOC thermal nuclear reactor core, a simulated BOC fast nuclear reactor core, a simulated BOC breed-and-burn nuclear reactor core, and a simulated BOC traveling wave nuclear reactor core. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the BOC simulation process comprises determining the set of simulated positions of the set of regions within the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core, the set of simulated positions being suitable for reducing a deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core and a received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining that the operational compliance state is the out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 determining a deviation metric between the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution and the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core is above a selected tolerance level that corresponds to the out-of-compliance state. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 in response to determining the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is in the out-of-compliance state, determining an additional loading distribution of the core of the nuclear reactor utilizing an additional simulation process, the additional simulation process comprising determining a set of simulated positions of a set of regions within an additional simulated core suitable for reducing the deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the additional simulated core and a received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein rearranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor comprises arranging at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the additional simulated core. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 reporting the operation compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the arranging at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core is in response to the determining the initial loading distribution. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the nuclear reactor comprises at least one of a thermal reactor, a fast nuclear reactor, a breed-and-burn reactor, and a traveling wave reactor. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the arranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core includes:
 translating the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor from an initial location to a subsequent location according to the set of simulated positions of a set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the arranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core includes:
 replacing the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the generating the measured reactor core parameter distribution utilizing the at least one measurement of the at least reactor core parameter at the one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor includes:
 generating the measured reactor core parameter distribution based at least in part on at least one measurement of at least one state variable at one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating the simulated operated nuclear reactor core based at least in part on the initial loading distribution. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the comparing the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 calculating a deviation metric between the measured reactor core parameter distribution and the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the measured reactor core parameter distribution comprises a first power density distribution, 
 the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core comprises a second power density distribution, and 
 the comparing the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 comparing the first power density distribution to the second power density distribution. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the comparing the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 comparing a rate of change of the first power density distribution to a rate of change of the second power density distribution. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the comparing the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 comparing a generated measured reactivity distribution to at least one reactor core reactivity distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein the comparing the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 comparing a rate of change of the generated measured reactor core reactivity distribution to at least one rate of change of the reactivity distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the arranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core comprises arranging fresh nuclear fuel in the core of the nuclear reactor. 
     
     
       20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to:
 determine an initial loading distribution of a core of a nuclear reactor utilizing a beginning-of-cycle (BOC) simulation process to generate a simulated BOC nuclear reactor core; 
 cause a fuel handler to arrange at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to a set of simulated positions of a set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core; 
 operate the core of the nuclear reactor for a selected time interval; 
 generate a measured reactor core parameter distribution utilizing at least one measurement of at least one reactor core parameter at one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor; 
 compare the measured reactor core parameter distribution to at least one reactor core parameter distribution of a simulated operated nuclear reactor core; 
 determine that an operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is an out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated core; and 
 in response to determining that the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is in the out-of-compliance state, cause the fuel handler to rearrange the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor, 
 wherein the causing the fuel handler to arrange the at least one fuel assembly includes causing the fuel handler to one or more of rearrange the at least one fuel assembly in the core, insert the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or remove the at least one fuel assembly from the core, and 
 wherein the causing the fuel handler to rearrange the at least one fuel assembly includes causing the fuel handler to one or more of rearrange the at least one fuel assembly in the core, insert the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or remove the at least one fuel assembly from the core. 
 
     
     
       21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core includes at least one of a simulated BOC thermal nuclear reactor core, a simulated BOC fast nuclear reactor core, a simulated BOC breed-and-burn nuclear reactor core, and a simulated BOC traveling wave nuclear reactor core. 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the BOC simulation process comprises determining the set of simulated positions of the set of regions within the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core, the set of simulated positions being suitable for reducing a deviation metric between the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core and a received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
     
     
       23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , wherein the determining that the operational compliance state is the out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes:
 determining that a deviation metric between the measured reactor core parameter distribution and the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core is above a selected tolerance level that corresponds to the out-of-compliance state. 
 
     
     
       24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 23 , further comprising:
 in response to determining that the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is in the out-of-compliance state, determining an additional loading distribution of the core of the nuclear reactor utilizing an additional simulation process, the additional simulation process comprising determining a set of simulated positions of a set of regions within an additional simulated core suitable for reducing the deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the additional simulated core and the received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
 
     
     
       25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 24 , wherein causing the fuel handler to rearrange the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor comprises arranging the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the additional simulated core. 
     
     
       26. A nuclear reactor system, comprising:
 a nuclear reactor including a nuclear reactor core, the nuclear reactor core including a plurality of fuel assemblies; 
 a controller configured to:
 determine an initial loading distribution of the nuclear reactor core utilizing a beginning-of-cycle (BOC) simulation process to generate a simulated BOC nuclear reactor core; 
 generate a measured reactor core parameter distribution utilizing at least one measurement of at least one reactor core parameter at one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor, following operation of the nuclear reactor for a selected time interval; 
 compare the measured reactor core parameter distribution to at least one reactor core parameter distribution of a simulated operated nuclear reactor core generated utilizing at least the initial loading distribution; and 
 determine that an operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is an out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core; and 
 
 a fuel assembly handler configured to rearrange at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to a set of simulated positions of a set of regions of an additional simulated operated nuclear reactor core in response to the controller determining that the operational compliance state is the out-of-compliance state, 
 wherein the fuel assembly handler is configured to one or more of rearrange the at least one fuel assembly in the core, insert the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or remove the at least one fuel assembly from the core, and 
 wherein the fuel assembly handler is configured to rearrange the at least one fuel assembly in the core, insert the at least one fuel assembly into the core, or remove the at least one fuel assembly from the core. 
 
     
     
       27. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the BOC simulation process comprises determining a set of simulated positions of a set of regions within a simulated BOC nuclear reactor core suitable for reducing a deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core and the received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
     
     
       28. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the controller is configured to determine that the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is in the out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core by:
 determining that a deviation metric between the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution and the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core is above a selected tolerance level that corresponds to the out-of-compliance state. 
 
     
     
       29. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 28 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 in response to determining that the operational compliance state is the out-of-compliance state, determine an additional loading distribution of the core of the nuclear reactor utilizing an additional simulation process, the additional simulation process comprising determining a set of simulated positions of a set of regions within the additional simulated core suitable for reducing the deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the additional simulated core and a received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
 
     
     
       30. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the fuel assembly handler is communicatively coupled to the controller, the fuel assembly handler being further configured to arrange the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of at least one of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core and the additional simulated nuclear reactor core, in response to a signal from a user interface device. 
     
     
       31. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the fuel assembly is communicatively coupled to the controller, the fuel assembly handler being further configured to arrange the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the simulated BOC nuclear reactor core, in response to the initial loading distribution determination. 
     
     
       32. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the fuel assembly handler is communicatively coupled to the controller, the fuel assembly handler being further configured to arrange the at least one fuel assembly of the core of the nuclear reactor according to the set of simulated positions of the set of regions of the additional simulated nuclear reactor core, in response to the additional loading distribution determination. 
     
     
       33. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the controller is configured to determine that the operational compliance state of the core of the nuclear reactor is the out-of-compliance state based at least in part on the comparing of the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core by determining that a deviation metric between the generated measured reactor core parameter distribution and the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core above a selected tolerance level that corresponds to the out-of-compliance state. 
     
     
       34. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 33 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 in response to determining that the operational compliance state is the out-of-compliance state, determine an additional loading distribution of the core of the nuclear reactor utilizing an additional simulation process, the additional simulation process comprising determining a set of simulated positions of a set of regions within the additional simulated core suitable for reducing the deviation metric between at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the additional simulated core and a received at least one reactor core parameter distribution associated with a state of a core of a reference nuclear reactor below a selected tolerance level. 
 
     
     
       35. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the nuclear reactor includes:
 at least one of a thermal nuclear reactor, a fast nuclear reactor, a breed-and-burn nuclear reactor and a traveling wave nuclear reactor. 
 
     
     
       36. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein:
 the measured reactor core parameter distribution comprises a first power density distribution, 
 the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core comprises a second power density distribution, and 
 the controller is configured to compare the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core by comparing the first power density distribution to the second power density distribution. 
 
     
     
       37. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the controller is configured to compare the measured reactor core parameter distribution to the at least one reactor core parameter distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core by:
 calculating a deviation metric between the measured reactor core distribution and the at least one reactor core distribution of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core. 
 
     
     
       38. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein at least a portion of the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes at least one of recycled nuclear fuel, unburned nuclear fuel and enriched nuclear fuel. 
     
     
       39. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , wherein the simulated operated nuclear reactor core includes a plurality of simulated fuel assemblies. 
     
     
       40. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 26 , further comprising:
 a reactor core measurement system operably coupled to the core of the nuclear reactor and communicatively coupled to the controller. 
 
     
     
       41. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 40 , wherein the reactor core measurement system is configured to perform at least one measurement of at least one state variable at one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor. 
     
     
       42. The nuclear reactor system of  claim 41 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate the measured reactor core parameter distribution utilizing the at least one measurement of the at least one state variable at the one or more locations within the core of the nuclear reactor from the reactor core measurement system. 
     
     
       43. The system of  claim 26 , wherein the fuel assembly handler is further configured to arrange fresh nuclear fuel in the core of the nuclear reactor.